Libertyville's Eric Turner expands his swimming horizons

Eric Turner helped Libertyville to a 10th-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay at the state meet in 2015. Now a senior, Turner is hoping to get back to state.

Eric Turner helped Libertyville to a 10th-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay at the state meet in 2015. Now a senior, Turner is hoping to get back to state. (Brian O'Mahoney / Pioneer Press)

Patrick Z. McGavinPioneer Press

As a freshman three years ago, Libertyville's Eric Turner had a front-row seat to watching the skill, discipline and relentless drive that separates the best swimmers from the pack.

He closely observed Alex Snarski, the 100-yard backstroke state champion and a member of the state title-winning 200-yard medley relay team. The 2014 Wildcats finished second in the state, the best finish in the program's history.

"I was fortunate to be on a team with such fast swimmers," Turner said.

Now, Turner is one of Libertyville's leaders. He is ready to build off a strong junior season and leave his own impression on the program.

He qualified for state in four events last year: the 50- and 100-yard freestyle and the 200 and 400 freestyle relays.

He did not advance past the preliminary round in any event last year. Now, the goal is to swim on the second day at state, which requires a top-12 finish among all state qualifiers. He got a taste of that in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays as a sophomore, when he advanced to the state finals.

"I have expectations for myself this year," Turner said. "I'd like to place this year at state. I have been comparing my times throughout the season, and right now I am getting times at the beginning of this year that I got at the end last year."

He swam a personal-best 21.82 seconds in the 50 free at the Lake Forest Sectional last February. He has already approached that with a 22.42 this season. His season-best of 1:47.8 is just off his top career mark of 1:46.6 in the 200 free.

Amanda Pechauer, the new head coach at Libertyville, has instituted a rigorous training regimen with daily 5,000-yard practice sessions. Those lengthy swims between competitions aim to help the Wildcats reach their desired times in shorter events and establish a competitive pace in the pool.

"Eric is one of our captains, and he works hard every day at practice," Pechauer said. "He is always ready to race and put his best effort forth at every practice. This attitude makes him prepared at every meet. I am looking forward to seeing how far this can take him."

Turner has also diversified his event schedule, thanks to some nudging by Pechauer. He has moved beyond being a freestyle sprint specialist. In some of the Wildcats' early dual meets, Turner has also swum the 500 freestyle and 100 butterfly.

"It definitely helps to swim other things," he said.

His winter break was particularly grueling, as he studied his past performance and compared it to his current times. Turner said it's a way to gauge where he wants to be in order to achieve his goals.

He started swimming competitively at age 8 and also played baseball until the eighth grade. At Libertyville, swimming has been his focus.

Turner said he's enjoyed being part of a team in high school.

"Club swimming is fun, but the team atmosphere of high school swimming is very attractive to me," he said. "You are with your friends, and it's a lot more of a team bond, especially on relays and things like that. Everybody is upbeat, and we are always cheering for each other."